The coiffed- and polished-to-perfection cast is seemingly full of apple pie, not gin — a facade
that interests me for its effort to create an image of unflawed, beautiful people.

My friend (and fellow
Welk watcher) Laurie and I send each other iPad pictures of the show when it airs.

My involvement as a viewer is visceral.

I cry when Irish tenor Joe Feeney sings. My heart aches for “Champagne Lady” Norma Zimmer, whose
autobiography reveals that she was an abused wife. I fret about Arthur Duncan, the tap-dancer, as
the only African-American cast member, hoping he didn’t feel alone back then.

Among the fans of the 1955-82 show was my Grandma Cavanaugh, who once visited the set and danced
with Welk.

Grandma and I watched
Lawrence Welk together at her home in the Berwick neighborhood, eating Dilly ice-cream
bars or drinking brown cows (root beer with vanilla ice cream).

During a recent episode, I posted a picture on Facebook from the TV screen of my “dream girls” —
the singing Lennon Sisters — and discovered that Laurie and I have allies: Comments came pouring
in.

Of course, I heard from detractors, too.

Jan couldn’t stand the show, but her grandfather faithfully taped the live airings on
reel-to-reel tapes, then mailed the tapes to relatives in Scotland. Dave ridiculed Myron Floren’s
lovely wavy hair and his accordion playing. Joe and his many siblings saw
Lawrence Welk as an obstacle to their preferred viewing later in the evening —
Rawhide.

Yet the
LW lovers far outnumbered the haters.

Teresa enjoyed
LW because her mom and sister, like the host, played the accordion.

Jan D.P., living in Shanghai, recalled dancing on her father’s feet during the live broadcast
when she was growing up on the West Side.

Linda, like many others, was introduced to
LW by a grandmother, who would watch her when her parents went out.

The
LW-grandma connection, in fact, came up often in the Facebook posts.

Kerri, who was watching the same 1958 episode I was, could practically smell her grandmother’s
White Shoulders perfume.

Carolyn could picture her grandmother, who lived with her family, dressed in her robe as she
eagerly awaited the show’s start.